Ferndale girls shake off rough start, beat St. Bernard's to clinch share of Little 4 title

EUREKA -- What did Ferndale head coach Kristie Christiansen tell her team at halftime to right the ship after a sluggish first half?

"We didn't have to say much at all," Christiansen recalled. "The players pretty much knew what they had to do."

After the break, they did just that.

Shaking off their rough start, the Wildcats used a huge second-half surge to defeat the St. Bernard's Crusaders 47-38 on Friday night to clinch at least a share of the Little 4 title.

With the win, Ferndale (14-6 overall) remained unbeaten in league play with a 4-0 record, and it holds a two-game lead over South Fork (2-2 in the Little 4) -- who beat Hoopa Valley 51-50 on Friday night -- with two to go.

St. Bernard's, who hosts South Fork next Friday, fell to 1-3 in the Little 4 and 13-7 on the season.

"When we play good defense, we play well on offense," Christiansen said. "We got back to what we know. We took better shots and got points in transition."

The Wildcats could only muster 14 points in the first half, as they trailed the Crusaders 21-14 heading into halftime.

In the third quarter, Ferndale outscored St. Bernard's 16-9.

After a Karly Robertson bucket stretched the Crusaders' lead to nine right after the break, the visitors responded with a 10-2 run, as Maci Branstetter's 3-pointer cut the St. B's lead to a slim 25-24 with just under three minutes left in the third.

Two minutes later, Ferndale had its first lead of the night (28-27) courtesy of a basket in the paint from Megan Earley and two Kendra Losa free throws.

But it was the fourth quarter where the Cats went ahead for good.

They again kept the Crusaders in single digits, outscoring the home team 17-8 in the last eight minutes of the game.

Four points apiece from Earley and Losa bookended a 10-4 run that put Ferndale on top 40-34 with 3:45 left in the game.

Branstetter added to the Cats' run two minutes later, banking in a desperation 3-pointer from long range just before the shot clock expired.

In total, the Wildcats scored 33 points in the second half, while the Crusaders had just 17.

"Ferndale's defense is consistent. They adapt very well, so we kept trying different things," St. Bernard's head coach Katie Gardner said. "But they kept making us turn the ball over and that allowed them to get some easy points."

Losa led the Wildcats with a game-high 16 points, while Earley finished with 14 and Branstetter -- who hit Ferndale's only two 3-pointers -- had eight.

Nadine Starritt was the lone Crusader in double figures on the night, finishing the game with 11 points. Robertson recorded nine points, while Joslynn Silvers had seven.